Uma visão puritana sobre Deus e o homem: o uso de fontes bíblicas de Jonathan Edwards no sermão "Pecadores nas mãos de um Deus irado"

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to analyze the way in which Jonathan Edwards uses the biblical sources mentioned in his sermon "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" to support his preaching of terror in July, 1741, in Enfield, Massachusetts. After seeing how Puritanism influenced his childhood and adolescence so markedly, and how the prison of Calvinism contributed to transform his preaching, we investigate in the sermon whether every biblical verse quoted by Edwards is faithful, more or less faithful, or unfaithful to the context (chapter or psalm) to which it belong. In order to proceed in this analysis, we turn to the hermeneutics of Mathers (2013), which guides us to analyze the biblical passage in two ways: 1) within its contexts, relating the passage with the preceding and following paragraphs and, considering it in the light of the argument of this particular chapter, of other chapters, and of the Bible itself; 2) by confirming an Old Testament passage in the New Testament, for thus we arrive at a consistent interpretation. Based on the biblical hermeneutics proposed by Mathers, according to which the gospels are understood as the historical foundation of the faith, we conclude that, basically, Edwards is being faithful to the immediate context (chapter or psalm) of the verses cited in his sermon, but, more broadly, he perverts and betrays Jesus’ message of love, forgiveness, and tolerance found in the gospels.